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Yankees’ First Pitch Is Out of This World
An astronaut in the International Space Station will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the start of tonight’s game between the Yankees and Red Sox.
30 Second Summary
When President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals’ opening game on March 31, he did so from the pitcher’s mound at Nationals Park.
NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman will throw out the first pitch for tonight’s Yankees game from slightly farther away: he’s currently living aboard the International Space Station, approximately 200 miles above Earth.
“Launching on the space shuttle and living aboard the International Space Station is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Reisman said. “But as a lifelong Yankees fan, throwing out the first pitch at a Yankees–Red Sox game is also a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
However, this is not a first for baseball, as a space shuttle commander threw a ceremonial pitch while in orbit in 1995. Over the years ceremonial first pitches have included every president since William Howard Taft, earned one mayor national ridicule, and even been made of ice cream.
Headline Links: Reisman Takes Yankee Mementos to Space
Garrett Reisman, a lifelong Yankees fan, began his planned four-month stay at the International Space Station on March 12. He brought several mementos of his favorite team, including dirt from the Yankee Stadium pitcher’s mound.
Source: MLB.com
Reisman will throw the ball aboard the space station, and video of the throw will be shown to the fans at Yankee Stadium.
Source: Reuters
Historical Context: First Pitches
This is not the first ceremonial pitch to be thrown from outer space. In 1995, NASA Commander Ken Bowersox threw out the first pitch before Game 5 of the World Series while aboard the space shuttle Columbia. Much like tonight’s ceremony, the pitch was broadcast on video screens in Cleveland’s Jacobs Field and on ABC.
Source: NASA
William Howard Taft became the first U.S. president to throw a ceremonial first pitch when he had the honor at Washington, D.C.’s Griffith Stadium in 1910. Since then, every sitting president has performed the feat at least once.
Source: Baseball Almanac
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory did a famously terrible job throwing out the first pitch before the Cincinnati Reds’ opener in 2007. The errant pitch never came close to its target and earned Mallory national media attention and a mock ejection from the home plate umpire. Cleveland’s NewsNet5 has the details and video of the pitch.
Source: NewsNet5
TV host Stephen Colbert threw a pint of his namesake Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor instead of a baseball at the start of a Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs game. Catching the pint of “Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream” was ice cream company co-founder Jerry Greenfield.
Source: WISTV
Key Players: Garrett Reisman
Source: NASA
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